Dancehall artiste, Squash, will avoid going to trial on federal gun charges in the United States after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors.
Squash and his defence attorneys have indicated that he intends to plead guilty on September 3.
The entertainer, whose given name is Andrae Maurice Whittaker, was facing charges of being an alien in possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of a machine gun.
This after a traffic stop in February led to the seizure of two Glock pistols and several magazines loaded with ammunition.
Squash was gearing up for a court battle with his attorneys filing a motion to have evidence in the case suppressed on the grounds of an illegal search.
Meanwhile, federal prosecutors had moved to have additional video and text evidence obtained from Squash’s phone entered into trial. Prosecutors were also seeking to use evidence from Squash’s music at trial.
The court was set to rule on that matter on Tuesday. But in a sensational turn of events, the expected ruling on the matter was cancelled on Monday. This as attorneys have indicated that Squash intended to change his plea to guilty.
The jury trial that was set to get underway on September 2 has also been cancelled, with a new September 3 date set for Squash to enter his guilty plea.
Squash had until August 26 to plead guilty or face the possibility of going to trial. If convicted at trial the St James native faced up to 10 years in prison on each count.
He would have faced a mandatory minimum of 15 years on each charge if there were three or more prior convictions.
At the time of the court filing on Monday, the details of the plea agreement have not been made public.
This is Squash’s second run in with the law in the US after a traffic stop in 2023 led to him being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE.
Court documents revealed that in that traffic stop two guns were also seized in a remarkably similar incident to his February 2025 traffic stop.
Squash still faces deportation proceedings linked to the 2023 traffic stop, with the feds indicating the Jamaican entered the US illegally in 2021.
